1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to fishing tackle, and more particularly to a sound-emitting fishing lure.
2. Description of Related Art
Predatory fish do not just locate prey optically. Their sight is limited. Even in reasonably clear water, the design of the average game fish""s eyes does not let it see anything more than 20-30 feet away with any degree of clarity. For the majority of warm water lakes or silty rivers, the distance light travels may fall to near zero. This is, perhaps, the reason that the many spinning and crank baits try to utilize a xe2x80x9cflashxe2x80x9d of light to attract the attention of game fish in the belief that a flashing light carries farther and demands more attention than a stationary reflection surface.
Sound, however, does propagate well in water. Some predatory fish can detect low frequency vibrations produced by other fish at distances varying from immediate striking range to several hundred feet or more. But existing sound-emitting fishing lures have very limited success at effectively producing fish-attracting low frequency vibrations (e.g., 100 to 500 Hertz) within a small (e.g., less than six inches long) resonating chamber or generator. One, for example, uses a small bell mounted in-line upon the lure for resonance and it fails to produce a suitable frequency. Another uses complicated microelectronics fitted on the lure that are far too expensive. Nevertheless, low frequency vibrations are recognized as an effective way to attract fish, and so anglers need a better sound-emitting lure.
This invention addresses the concerns outlined above by providing a fishing lure that, as retrieved through water, uses the water itself to produce low frequency vibrations within the most effective hearing range of most game fish. The fishing lure includes outer and inner bodies mounted on a shaft. The outer body channels water through its hollow interior as it is retrieved, while the inner body rotates as a gating component that interrupts the flow intermittently to produce low frequency vibrations. This is done with a small (less than six inches long) sound generator, and it results in low frequency vibrations in the 100 to 500 Hertz range at realistic retrieval rates in the one foot-per-second to five feet-per-second range.
To paraphrase some of the more precise-language appearing in the claims, a fishing lure constructed according to the invention includes a shaft (e.g., 0.0625-inch diameter, six-inch long brass rod) having a first end portion adapted to be connected to a line and a second end portion adapted to be connected to a hook. An outer body mounted on the shaft includes a forward end portion that defines an outer body input port, a rearward end portion that defines a plurality of outer body output ports, and a hollow interior extending between the outer body input port and the plurality of outer body output ports. The outer body (e.g., a 0.75-inch diameter, three-inch long, thin-wall, plastic cylinder) is so adapted that as an angler retrieves the outer body through a body of water by pulling on a line connected to the shaft, waterflows through the outer body input port into the hollow interior and then out of the hollow interior through the plurality of outer body output ports.
A gating component is included on the shaft that functions as means for repetitively interrupting the flow of water through the outer body output ports in order to produce low frequency vibrations. The gating component is mounted rotatably on the shaft within the hollow interior of the outer body for rotation on the shaft in response to water flowing through the hollow interior of the outer body. It rotates at a rate of rotation dependent on the rate at which the angler retrieves the outer body. The gating component is adapted to repetitively interrupt the flow of water through the plurality of outer body output ports multiple times for each revolution of the gating component in order to thereby produce low frequency vibrations having a frequency greater than the rate of rotation.
In one embodiment, the gating component includes an inner body (e.g., a two-inch long, thin-wall, plastic cylinder) that is mounted rotatably on the shaft within the hollow interior of the outer body. The inner body has a front end portion disposed toward the forward end portion of the outer body that defines an inner body input port, a rear end portion disposed toward the rearward end portion of the outer body that defines a plurality of inner body output ports, and a passageway extending between the inner body input port and the plurality of inner body output ports. An impeller on the front end portion of the inner body causes the inner body to rotate on the shaft in response to the flow of water through the inner body input port. The outer body and the inner body are so adapted as to cause water flowing through the hollow interior of the outer body to flow through the inner body input port past the impeller, through the passageway in the inner body, through inner body output ports, and then through the outer body output ports. In addition, the outer body and the inner body are adapted to cause at least some of the inner body output ports to move into and out of alignment with at least some of the outer body output ports multiple times for each revolution of the inner body on the shaft in order to thereby produce low frequency vibrations having a frequency greater than the rate of rotation of the inner body.
Preferably, the outer body includes a second impeller that is adapted to cause the outer body to rotate on the shaft in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction. Also, at least some of the plurality of outer body output ports preferably face radially outward at circumferentially spaced-apart intervals. The illustrated embodiment includes eight outer body output ports and the inner body includes eight inner body output ports in order to produce eight interruptions of the flow of water through the outer body output ports for each revolution of the inner body relative to the outer body.
According to another aspect of the invention, the outer body includes a cylindrically shaped inner wall that defines a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, radially inward facing depressions, and the gating component defines a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart radially outward opening compartments. The gating component includes a plurality of vibration-making members (e.g., ball bearings) disposed within the radially outward opening compartments for radial movement toward and from the inner wall. Rotation of the gating component on the shaft causes the vibration-making members to bear radially outward against the inner wall of the outer body under influence of centrifugal force so that the vibration-making members produce vibrations for fish-luring purposes as the vibration-making members pass over the radially inward facing depressions.
Thus, the fishing lure of this invention is a small, relative uncomplicated and inexpensive, crank type bait that produces low frequency vibrations in the 100 to 500 Hertz range at realistic retrieval rates. The basic design (if fitted with a weedless hook) provides no fouling surfaces to underwater obstructions, making it virtually weedless. The design is scalable to lengths from three to eighteen inches or more so that it can be fine-tuned to be effective in both fresh and salt water. It can even be configured especially for trolling for deep sea or big-game fishing, and the added vibration-making members produce effective fish-luring vibrations. The following illustrative drawings and detailed description make the foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention more apparent.